


i wanna know (what your love feels like)

by or_something



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: F/F, angsty but it's all okay in the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10528752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/or_something/pseuds/or_something
Summary: Every school has its own group of cheerleaders, always sneering, always laughing, always mocking.Always far too pretty for their own good.Always one in particular, who catches Trini’s eye, who makes her breath catch in her throat and her stomach burn with something familiar, yet unexplored.orTrini definitely has a type





	

**Author's Note:**

> title is based off pretty girl by hayley kiyoko

 

Trini’s known she likes girls for a long time, and she’s known that she’s an outcast for even longer.

Each year brings with it a new school, and each new school brings with it new challenges. 

And new girls.

Every school has its own group of cheerleaders, always sneering, always laughing, always mocking. 

Always far too pretty for their own good.

Always one in particular, who catches Trini’s eye, who makes her breath catch in her throat and her stomach burn with something familiar, yet unexplored.

And every time, she tingles with the urge to touch, to kiss, to be around the very girl who’s kind make her life hell.

 

—

 

In Washington there’s Amanda. She’s tall and blonde and so, so pretty, and Trini thinks she’s in love.

She’s fourteen when they meet. 

(if you can even call it meeting)

Trini steps through the doors of the school, beanie tugged down over her ears to hide as much of her face as possible, hands wrapped so tightly around the straps of her backpack that it almost hurts, and keeps her eyes trained to the floor.

She’s focusing so hard on staying small, staying unnoticed, that she doesn’t see them until it’s too late.

Before she knows it, she’s on the ground. She looks up into five faces, sneering down at her, no one extending a hand to help.

They spit some words at her, “bitch” and “loser” and “new girl”, which has never felt quite as cruel as it does now. Trini’s face burns red and her eyes sting with the need to cry, but she doesn’t.

The girls laugh, and they move on, and Trini is left to pick herself up.

She hates high school, and it’s only been ten minutes.

 

—

 

Trini’s always been good at hiding, years of being picked on will do that to you, and the incident on the first day of school does nothing but encourage the habit.

It’s a few weeks before she sees any of the girls again.

When she does, she’s caught off guard. More specifically, on the toilet.

“Hey, is there anyone in here?” The voice comes from the stall next to her. 

Trini wants to stay quiet, wants to stay unnoticed, so she doesn’t reply.

“Hey, come on, I can see your feet.”

Trini sighs, caught out.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Do you have any toilet paper?”

Well that’s not what she was expecting.

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

There’s silence for a few moments, and then, “Well, can I have some?”

“Oh! Yeah, hold on.” Trini grabs a handful of tissue, passing it underneath the stall to the girl next to her.

“Thanks!”

The girl flushes the toilet, and leaves the stall, and Trini waits until after the tap has stopped running to leave. 

She doesn’t get out that easily. The girl waited.

And the girl was a cheerleader, one of the cheerleaders that she’d bumped into.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Their eyes meet for a long moment, before Trini diverts hers to the floor, and doesn’t look at the girl as she’s washing her hands.

“Look, Deedee, is it?”

“Trini”, she mumbles under her breath.

“Trini, I’m sorry we had to meet the way we did. I’m sorry about what my friends said to you.” Trini looks up, meets her eyes in the mirror, but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry for what I said to you.”

Trini’s heart is beating faster the longer she holds eye contact, and she knows that this feeling can only end badly.

“I’m Amanda,” she says, stepping towards Trini’s back, half holding out her hand like she’s going to shake it, but letting it drop when Trini doesn’t turn.

She nods, in resignation it seems, before she goes to leave.

“Thank you, for the toilet paper. I’m sorry. I’ll see you around, Trini.”

The door swings shut behind her, and Trini releases a breath she didn’t realise she was holding.

She loosens her grip on the sink and as she washes her hands, she realises two things.

One, that was the longest conversation she’s had since she’s been at this school (even if most of it was one sided), and two, Amanda is the prettiest girl she’s ever seen.

In conclusion: she’s fucked.

 

—

 

She sees Amanda around from time to time, always with her posse, never alone like in the bathroom, and every so often she’ll catch her eye, and Trini’s palms will start sweating. 

She can’t avoid trouble forever, and when she brings herself to the attention of the group again, they’re just as cruel as before. Amanda doesn’t say anything, just looks at Trini with something like pity as they walk away.

Trini can still feel the stare when her fist connects with the wall outside, and as she wraps up her hand later that night, she tells herself she’s never falling for a straight girl again.

 

—

 

Then she moves schools for the start of her sophomore year and oh- nevermind.

In Ohio it’s Natalie.

It’s a new year, a new school, but the same story.

Natalie’s hair is long, fiery red, lips constantly turned upwards in a smirk, eyes dark and piercing and intense.

She’s queen bee.

Everything Trini isn’t, and everything she wants.

 

—

 

Natalie stares at Trini. It's something she feels more than she sees at first, always aware that someone's watching her, scrutinising her every move.

In her bid to try and stay unnoticed at this school, she doesn't give in to the urge to look round and see who it is. She doesn't want to know. She just wants to survive this year.

 

—

 

When she finally sees who it is that's been watching, it's a complete accident. She looks up, meaning to glance at the clock, but dark eyes catch hers and she can't look away.

Natalie quirks an eyebrow, flashes her signature smirk, and Trini feels her cheeks burn as she forces her eyes downward.

After that first time, it gets harder to ignore.

In the hallway, in the cafeteria, in English, every time she feels eyes on her she meets them, and every time she's rewarded with a warmth that burns low in her stomach.

It's addicting. In fact, the more it happens, the more she finds herself seeking out the glances, actively looking for Natalie in the hallway, breaking every rule she has about keeping her head down and staying unnoticed.

It's going to end badly.

 

—

 

It's early January when it does end badly.

 

—

 

There's a note in her locker, just a corner ripped off a page and folded in half, Trini's name scrawled over it.

'Meet me behind the gym after school? -Natalie'

Trini's heart starts pounding, and it doesn't stop all day.

She keeps the note in her pocket, re reads it four times in different classes to make sure that yes, this is real, she didn't imagine it.

By the end of the day her hands are shaking (with nerves or anticipation, she can't tell the difference) as she makes her way to the gym.

“N-Natalie?”

“Hey Trini.” She whirls around. Natalie is leaning against the wall at the back of the gym, cool as ever as she approaches.

Trini doesn’t know what’s happening when Natalie shoves her against the wall and kisses her.

It's rough, and hot, and over far too soon. 

Natalie pulls back just an inch to speak.

"I've seen you looking at me. This is what you want isn't it?"

Her voice is gentle, low, soft and Trini feels safe enough to nod.

Natalie laughs, and the sound cuts through her.

"You think that someone like me would ever fall for someone like you?"

Trini's breath catches, Natalie's voice suddenly cruel, mocking, and she feels like she can't breathe.

Natalie kisses her again, and Trini hates that she lets her, but she melts under her mouth.

Natalie bites her lower lip, harder than should feel good, and the moan that slips from Trini breaks the moment.

Natalie steps back, wipes her mouth on the back of her hand, and laughs.

"You're a fucking nobody. Don't kid yourself."

Trini barely registers her leaving, just sinks to the floor, feels the tarmac under her hands and doesn't let herself cry.

Two months of buildup, and it's all been a joke. She doesn't understand how someone can be so cruel, lead someone on so much just to humiliate them. She should have known better.

She traces over her lower lip, kiss swollen and sore, and swears this will be the last time.

 

—

 

She skips school more than she attends for the rest of the year, and by the time her parents find out it's almost summer.

She's just turned sixteen, and they move again.

 

—

 

Everywhere she goes, there’s always _that girl_.

Angel Grove is no different.

The mean girls are still mean, Trini is still quiet.

Nothing changes.

Except, this time it kind of does.

Because this time there’s Kimberly Hart.

 

—

 

It starts out the same, sure. The pretty girl on the cheerleading squad, the snide remarks in the hallway, the way Trini’s heartbeat pounds in her ears if they make eye contact.

She sits behind her in Biology, and finds herself staring at the back of her head. 

She knows this story off by heart now, she knows how it ends.

 

—

 

Except apparently she doesn’t know anything, because unlike the previous girls, Kimberly falls from grace.

Nobody really knows what happens, except she fights with her best friends, punches her boyfriend in the mouth, and ends up in detention. It’s unexpected, to say the least.

 

—

 

Trini rolls her eyes when she sees Kimberly at the quarry with that boy Jason, because of course they’re here, in her safe place, and of course she’s with a boy and of course they were probably making out somewhere around here.

She wishes they’d all just leave, let her be alone with her thoughts, but then there’s an explosion and there’s alarms and she’s leaping into their van without a second thought.

They’re hurtling towards a train and Trini’s voice sounds foreign to her own ears when she warns them. There’s nothing they can do now.

Someone’s hand grabs around her wrist, and Trini turns to see who. Kimberly looks at her, with so much fear in her eyes that Trini feels brave enough to interlock their fingers. Her grip tightens, and the last thought she has right before the train hits is _Kimberly_.

 

—

 

She wakes up in her own bed. There’s a lot running through her head, between shiny coins and almost dying and the _strength_ she feels flowing through her body, but there’s one thing she can’t stop thinking about.

She’s never held hands before. Whether romantically or not, she never been close enough to someone to let them hold her hand. It makes her feel vulnerable, makes her feel exposed-

Made her feel special.

And she hates it.

She hates that when she was hurtling towards her almost certain death, she was feeling special because a pretty girl held her hand.

Even more than that, she hates that she knows what this means.

 

—

 

Training is hard. Sure, she’s got some kind of super strength and super stamina now, but that doesn’t make this easy. She’s exhausted.

Trini’s pulling her jacket on, slowly so as not to aggravate her aching muscles, when Kimberly approaches.

“Hey,” she starts.

“Hey.”

“Training was hard wasn’t it?” She smiles, and nudges Trini with her elbow, “Wanna go get something to eat?”

Trini almost says no, wants to say no, because this would be the first time they’ve been alone together, and pretending Kimberly doesn’t make her heart beat a little bit harder is going to be difficult, but then she’s smiling at her expectantly and there’s nothing she can say but- “Okay.”

 

—

 

It’s easier than Trini expected. Kimberly talks plenty, makes easy conversation, and makes Trini laugh. They split a waffle, one fork each, and Trini tries to ignore how much this feels like a date.

She isn’t going there again.

Kimberly fights her for the last bite, and Trini laughs lighter, in a way she doesn’t remember doing for years.

They walk part of the way home together, shoulders bumping every few steps.

“It’s nice to get out, just us girls, isn’t it?”

Trini hums her agreement.

“I mean, the guys are nice and everything, but I like spending time with just you.”

Trini can feel her cheeks warming, hopes she isn’t blushing as she stammers out, “I like spending time with you too.”

She doesn’t look at her, but she can tell Kimberly’s smiling beside her, before she stops abruptly.

“Well, this is my street. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Trini nods. “Yeah, see you.”

She’s halfway turned to continue on her way home when she feels a hand on her elbow, and suddenly she’s being hugged.

It’s a foreign sensation, and it’s over before her brain can catch up and tell her to hug back, and then Kimberly’s smiling warmly at her, and squeezing her elbow gently before turning and walking off.

 

—

 

She doesn’t stop smiling for the whole walk home.

 

—

 

Trini feels Kimberly’s eyes on her when Zack asks about her ‘girlfriend problems’, and she changes the subject to her family, her loneliness, anything but ‘girlfriend problems’. It’s not like Kimberly even is her girlfriend. Just that she wants her to be.

But how can she say that, and ruin this. Ruin the first group of friends she’s had in forever, over a stupid crush on a straight girl.

(A straight girl with the stars in her eyes and sunshine in her smile, but a straight girl nonetheless).

It wouldn’t be worth it.

So she stays quiet, she bites down the feelings that want to burst from her chest just looking at Kimberly, soaked in firelight, glowing like some kind of ethereal being-

God, she’s got it bad.

 

—

 

She’s dreaming of Kimberly, of eating doughnuts and holding her hand and kissing her lips, when she wakes to cold water dripping on her face.

 

—

 

Trini barely has time to process what’s happening before she’s up against the wall. Rita’s in her room, and she’s choking her and hurting her and oh god, she’s going to kill her, and then she’s gone. 

Trini feels like she’s not in her body when she pulls down the collar of her shirt to show her friends the marks that have been left on her, trying to sound unaffected but still shaking from the encounter. She doesn’t miss the way Kimberly’s brow furrows as she looks at the marks, almost like she’s in pain herself.

There’s no time to dwell on that though, because then they’re at the docks and Rita has them all trapped and Billy’s dead but then he’s not and they’re morphing for the first time, and Rita was bad enough but Goldar is so much worse and the adrenaline that’s pumping through her veins is distracting from the fear, and they win, they somehow actually win and Rita is gone and everything is quiet and-

Everything is so quiet. Trini has time to process everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours, and the more she thinks on it the worse she feels. Her injuries from her personal encounter with Rita are joined by some new ones from both Rita and Goldar, and they _hurt_.

Trini falls behind the group as they walk back to the quarry, but it isn’t long until Kimberly slows down her pace to walk alongside her.

“You were incredible out there, Trini.”

Trini just shakes her head. “ _You_ were incredible Kim.”

Kimberly takes her hand, laces their fingers together.

“We both were.”

And Trini, throwing caution to the wind in light of their near death experience, squeezes the hand in hers. “Yeah, we were.” She pauses. “Listen, Kim, there’s something I want to tell-“

Kimberly kisses her.

They’re standing on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere, both battle-sore and bruised, and Trini’s hand is in Kimberly’s and Kimberly’s free hand is wound around the back of Trini’s neck, and it’s short but it’s _everything_.

She pulls back just enough to rest their foreheads together.

“How- how did you know?”

“Trini I’ve been flirting with you ever since I met you. I was just waiting for you to catch up.” Trini smiles, bashful. “And then we almost lost, we almost died,” Kimberly reaches to brush Trini’s hair behind her ear as she speaks, “and I almost never got to kiss you, so I thought I should. Kiss you, I mean.”

They both have scars and they both have traumas, and later, once they’re physically patched up, they’re going to need to talk, to try and begin to mend emotionally, but for now Trini just laughs and pulls Kimberly in for another long kiss.

They’re cut off by shouts from the boys, telling them to stop making out and hurry up, and Trini just laughs.

Everywhere she goes, there’s always _that girl_.

Angel Grove is no different.

Except this time, it’s so, so different.

This time _that girl_ is Kimberly Hart. 

**Author's Note:**

> i have been dreaming of this movie ever since i heard it was happening and i was not let down at all.  
> come talk to me about it @ [latenightflurricane.tumblr.com](http://latenightflurricane.tumblr.com)


End file.
